INSIDE THE MIND OF THE COLLEGE STUDENTBMC's Drinktell™ Database Reveals What Tickles Young Adults' Beverage Fancy

A survey of college students across the country by Beverage Marketing Corporation's DrinkTell™ database, conducted in partnership with Riddle & Bloom, reveals insights about the attitudes and behaviors of young adults (Riddle & Bloom's specialty) in the context of beverages (BMC's bailiwick).

According to DrinkTell™, college students evidenced a heavy inclination towards coffee as their "pick-me-up" beverage of choice. More than half of surveyees named coffee as their favorite stimulator, greatly outpacing other beverages that are known to serve this role such as soda (cola/heavy citrus) and energy drinks/shots. Surprisingly, adrenal stimulation was not the only way to measure the "pick-me-up" criteria as evidenced by water coming in second place and chosen by 16.3% of respondents.

In a specific question about sports drinks, college students were asked to choose the occasions (multiple answers were permissible) in which they consume isotonic beverages. Not surprisingly, "after I work out" was the most prevalent answer, chosen by 53.3% of respondents. However, the second biggest occasion was as a hangover cure, surpassing hydration need states such as during or before workouts or to quench thirst in general. Nearly 20% stated that they drink sports drinks when drinking alcohol, presumably as a hangover prophylactic. While sports drinks are not overtly, or even covertly, positioned as an adjunct to alcohol consumption, such insights are valuable to the marketer astute enough to take advantage of them.

College students were also queried about their behavior vis-à-vis artificial sweeteners. According to the Beverage Marketing's DrinkTell™ database, about half of college students said they try to avoid artificial sweeteners, while an additional 13.4% say they completely avoid them altogether. Nearly one-third of respondents are okay with consuming artificial sweeteners. Since "artificial flavoring" is a bit more vague than "artificial sweeteners," it is not surprising that college students were not nearly as dismissive of artificial flavoring. To wit, only 7.8% of students said they completely avoid artificial flavoring.

The foregoing represents just a few of the many data points and insights provided by Beverage Marketing Corporation's DrinkTell™ database. Beverage Marketing's partnership with Riddle & Bloom is entering its third year, thus providing a longitudinal look at college students' behavior and attitudes across multiple years.